Sweet Dreams
by HollyHop
Summary: When Rimmer goes to erase a dream of his from the dream recorder, he stumbles across something he hadn't expected. This is just a short flick with slashy overtones. Rimmer/Lister. I don't own any of the characters and make no money out of this.
1. Chapter 1

I am rather new to the whole Red Dwarf universe, but I'll do my best to stay within the canon parameters. Obviously I'm a Rimmer/Lister shipper, although I wouldn't say no, if Rimmer told me he wasn't really into Lister that much and would rather go out with me instead.

Set after season 8 but ignoring season 10

Sweet dreams

Chapter 1

"He's doing WHAT?"

Lister almost screamed at Kryten.

"I … he just told me he had to check something on the dream recorder, Mr. Lister Sir."

Kryten cowered slightly, shocked by the sudden onslaught from his crewmate, something he wasn't used to at all. He couldn't think of what he'd done wrong. Earlier on when Mr. Rimmer had said that he was on his way down to the science lab to check the dream computer for an important dream he'd had last week, Kryten had thought it was probably something about him finally passing an exam or receiving an award for bravery. Lister was now struggling into his overalls catching his locks in the zip while trying to rush it.

"But the dream recorder was destroyed. It was destroyed, wasn't it?"

He now sounded positively alarmed and Kryten tried to fathom what it was that made Lister almost frantic. If mechanoids could have stuttered, now would have been the time for him to do it.

"I … I believe the dream recorder was rebuilt together with everything else by the nanobots. Is there something wrong with Mr. Rimmer looking at it?"

"There bloody well is and you know it."

Lister finally got the zip to close and sprinted out the door without his shoes on, running down the corridor towards the science lab, where the damn thing would be stored. Why didn't he remember it sooner. He could have erased the dream without any trouble and no one would ever have known. But now …

What if Rimmer found it, stumbled across it accidentally, while searching for something completely different. Was it even possible for anyone else to access his dreams or were they security coded? Why hadn't he asked Kryten about this earlier? It didn't matter now. Rimmer would have to be stopped. Rounding the last corner at a jog breathing heavily, Lister saw that the door to the science lab stood open. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Stopping well before reaching it, he slowly made his way towards the opening and carefully peered inside. The dream recorder was in it's holder against the back wall, but there was no one in the lab. Lister walked up to the fateful computer and saw that it was still switched on.

'No no no no … this can't be good.'

He scrolled up to the top of the dream last viewed and sure enough saw himself sitting in Starbugs cockpit wearing his filthy old overalls gazing out into the stars just like he remembered it. He stopped the recording immediately and pressed delete on the controls. A small clock appeared and within five seconds the dream was erased. Erased from the memory of this compute, if not from his own.

What now?

There was no doubt that Rimmer had seen the dream. That he had seen … he couldn't even bear to think about it. He would have to talk to him. To make it absolutely clear that it was just a dream, that it could have happened to anyone and it meant absolutely nothing. Lister almost winced. It meant nothing. Not a damn thing. He had repeated this mantra to himself ever since he woke up screaming with the feeling of Rimmer's lips on his, as if it had really happened. But it hadn't. It was just a dream. And this was exactly what he would tell Rimmer and the sooner the better. Awkward conversations shouldn't be put off. It was a situation he would have to face. Better sooner than later. Or … he could look for Kryten and talk to him first. Or Cat. Or even Kochanski, although he doubted that she would spare a minute for his troubles being so busy now with her new boyfriend.

Lister switched the computer off and slowly made his way back towards the habitation deck, where their quarters were situated. He wondered where Rimmer was at this moment. Did he simply run and hide, as he frequently did whenever a difficult situation arose, or did he return to their quarters as well? Maybe he was waiting for Lister to get back. To talk to him. Maybe everything wasn't quite as bad as he was imagining and Rimmer would be very understanding and totally relaxed about the whole thing?

'Not very likely.' Lister mumbled to himself and kicked a large box standing along the wall in one of the corridors, completely forgetting that he had no shoes on. The pain shot through his toes into his entire foot and up his leg. Paralysed with pain for a second he bit his lip and then cursed the box into the next black hole, hobbling further along the corridor. But the pain did clear his head a bit. He would simply return to their quarters, be very calm and talk to Rimmer. Even if the smeghead was mad at him for a couple of days, in the end they would make it up again like they always did. With this certainty in mind he strode back along the corridor towards their quarters with renewed energy. He turned the corner intending to enter their quarters at a quick pace getting this over with as quickly as possible, when he ran straight into the door. He cursed himself.

"Open."

Nothing happened.

"Erm, Holly, could you open the door please?"

Still nothing.

Lister opened the panel next to the door to initiate the manual override. He enterd his security code number but still nothing happened. His shoulders sagged. Of course. Rimmer had entered new security codes and locked him out of their quarters. Great.

"Rimmer!"

He shouted through the door.

"Open up. I've gotta talk to you."

No reply.

"Listen, I know you saw the dream. But it was just that, alright. A dream. I didn't mean to dream it, I didn't plan it or somethin' and it doesn't mean nuthin'. It was yonks ago. I didn't ask for it. C'mon open the door. I know you're in there."

Nothing happened.

Lister leaned against the door trying to listen for any sounds from inside. It was perfectly quiet.

"Rimmer, seriously, open the smeggin' door".

Lister started banging against it with his fist. Inside he heard footsteps and then loud music.

"RIMMER!"

He shouted again.

The music grew louder. It was Rimmer's favourite organ recital. He had tortured them with it once a week back on the old Red Dwarf. It was no use. He wouldn't open the door and him standing out here in the corridor shouting wasn't going to help. So he decided to go in search of Kryten and discuss the situation with him. Get an outside view of it. Maybe a sane piece of advice. Well, to be honest he would've taken an insane piece of advice as well. That's how desperate he was.

He found Kryten in the laundry room folding shirts and overalls.

"Kryten, man, I'm in trouble. Rimmer saw the dream. He locked me out of the room and doesn't wanna talk to me."

Kryten interrupted his task and looked at Lister.

"I guess the dream to which you are referring is the one you told me about last year. Where you and Mr. Rimmer k…"

"YES, alright Kryten," Lister interrupted hurriedly. "You don't need to say it." Cutting in quickly before Kryten went any further into uncharted territory and discovered a whole new galaxy out there. A galaxy Lister had been working hard to ignore for the past year. Going so far as to deny that there had ever been any sightings of this galaxy in his mind. But now it all rushed back with a vengeance like a giant swing that he had given a good push back then. The dream. Of course he had been shocked at first and even repulsed by it. But then he had thought about it and yes, he had missed Rimmer. His annoying roommate. The master of Smeg, the mean little toad who would have let him die only to further his own chances of survival. But of whom he had grown fond as well. Even going so far as to enjoy their squabbling, to miss the haughtiness and the sound of Rimmer's nagging voice when he wasn't there. He had certainly grown to like him more than he had at the beginning. But that was all. Wasn't it? Lister had spent many hours alone thinking about what that dream could have meant. Certainly he wasn't in love with Rimmer. Certainly he hadn't dreamt about kissing him, because he wanted to. So what DID it mean? Was it like Kochanski had said? Simply a reaction to missing someone, however annoying, that he had spent a lot of time with. Someone he had gone through a lot of dangerous situations with. Or was it simply because he had forgotten about all the bad character traits that Rimmer had and only remembered the good ones and simply needed to be reminded more often, like Kryten said.

"Sir…? Are you alright? You haven't said anything for two minutes there."

Lister looked up and found Kryten still standing opposite him with an unfolded shirt in his hands, looking at him quite concerned.

"What? I mean, I didn't hear what you said there, sorry."

"I said, would you like ME to talk to Mr Rimmer, explain it all to him. Maybe even show him the Rimmer Experience I created to remind you of all the bad times we had."

"No …" Lister stared through Kryten and into the past. "No, I'll talk to him. I'm gonna give him a day or so and then try to get through to him."

He turned and left a very bewildered Kryten behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

He would give Rimmer a couple of days to cool off and in the meantime would go through everything in his mind again. If Rimmer listened, then he would tell him that the only reason for the dream was that he had missed him and had remembered the good times more clearly than the bad, but that if he thought about their friendship clearly, he could see that they were simply too different to be true friends. And then he would move into different quarters and leave Rimmer alone. He would definitely not tell him about the galaxy he had glimpsed in the weeks after the dream in which they had been more than friends, in which they had smiled at each other and hugged whenever they met. In which they had allowed their emotions to run loose. Unzipping overalls and feelings at the same time. Allowing them to guide lips onto necks and hands under shirts. He rolled this galaxy into a tiny ball and stored it at the back of his mind. Whatever Kryten had tried to achieve with the Rimmer Experience, it hadn't really worked. It had endeared this strange man to him, more than it had repulsed him.

Walking down the corridors he realised he was still without shoes and therefore made his way down to Cat's sleeping quarters. He'd have a spare pair or two … hundred. Cat wasn't in when he knocked, but Lister took a pair of the most casual shoes he could find, a chequered pair of loafers with golden buckles at the sides, and slipped them on. Maybe he could stay here for the night. Cat would understand. Fortunately, when he arrived half an hour later, he did.

"Man, I told you to get outta there years ago. Who'd want to live with a git like him? Ow, I'd go crazy."

They played cards until well into the night and talked about the good times. And although Lister hadn't thought he could enjoy himself tonight, he did. Cat had a knack for making all the difficult things in life seem unimportant and far away. When they finally went to bed Lister had almost forgotten about what lay before him the next morning.

He remembered it all too well when he woke up, though. Trying to stall, he ate breakfast together with Cat, afterwards wishing he hadn't. Not only did Cat play with his food, he also ate Lister's food when he wasn't looking and then licked his shirt afterwards. So Lister quickly slipped back into his overall and the loud shoes, said goodbye to Cat who made a face when Lister told him he was going to try and convince Rimmer to let him back into their quarters, and left.

Back in front of their door he took a deep breath before knocking. Remember, he said to himself, it meant nuthin' and it was ages ago. Then he knocked. The door opened immediately. Lister was too shocked to move. His eyes fell onto the room. Rimmer was sitting at the table reading a book, or at least pretending to, and when the door opened he got up. Lister's heart was clawing it's way up his throat by now, trying to escape through his mouth. He tried to swallow it down again, but failed.

"Erm…," he started, "Listen I … it was nuthin'. Just a crazy dream, like getting run over by a train or killing your Mum with a shovel or somethin', alright?"

Rimmer said nothing, he simply got up, grabbed a bag that was standing ready by his side and walked past him out of the door.

Lister found his voice again.

"Where're you goin'? You gotta at least talk to me." But Rimmer walked on without a word. Finally Lister gave up and returned to their quarters. There was a note on the table, which he hadn't seen before in his confusion and terror.

'If it meant nothing, then I shouldn't trouble you any longer.'

His hands slowly sank back to the top of the table still clutching the note. What was that about now? As cryptic as it was, it sounded almost like … almost as if Rimmer would have wanted the dream to mean something. Could that be? And what if he did?

'Oh smeg.'

Now he was really confused. What if Rimmer, too, had feelings for him? What if he had seen the dream on the computer and had realised he might have a chance after all and then Lister had been so incredibly stupid to tell him that it meant nothing. That it had been just a stupid dream. But if that was the case. If Rimmer truly had feelings for him, did he want to reveal his own feelings? Did he want to go for it? And what then? On the surface of things there was no objection to them having a relationship. There were many same-sex couples on board Red Dwarf. Even the captain shared his quarters with his partner. But what if they got on each other's nerves again. What if they just kept on fighting all the time. That would destroy their friendship forever. Then again, Lister sighed, it probably was too late for that anyway.

He turned and ran back out the door and in the direction in which Rimmer had vanished. He tried to guess down which corridor he could have gone, but the labyrinthine ship didn't favour his efforts. He couldn't find him anywhere. He went down to Cat's but he wasn't there and not at Kryten's place either. In the end he begged Holly to do a sweep with the security cameras and finally managed to track him down.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"He's at the movies, Dave. Watching that old classic with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds."

Well, Lister thought, that really would have been the last place I looked. He made his way down to the small cinema. Entering the dark room he took care not to make a noise but there was so much singing going on that Rimmer wouldn't have heard him, if he had come crashing down the doors. He slowly made his way down towards the familiar figure sitting in the middle of the otherwise empty auditorium. When he approached the row in which Rimmer was sitting, he tried to make some noise so as not to startle him, but Rimmer's eyes were closed and the music was rising to a crescendo. He waited until the song had finished and then slowly sidled into the row. Rimmer heard him approaching and opened his eyes. Their eyes met for a moment and then Rimmer looked back at the screen. Lister sat down next to him and they both watched the story unfold for a few minutes. He had come here to talk to Rimmer, but now he really had no idea how to start. He took the note out of his pocket and unfolded it again.

"It meant somethin'." He said half to himself, half to the man sitting next to him. Rimmer's eyes were still fixed to the screen.

"I mean it had to have meant somethin', hadn't it. Otherwise I wouldn't have dreamt it. And even if it hadn't meant anything at the time, it meant something afterwards. Whenever I thought about you it meant something. Because whenever I thought about you after that dream, I thought about what it would feel like if it hadn't been a dream. If it was real, y'know."

And with that he leaned back and looked up at the screen as well. He had said everything he had wanted to say, now it was Rimmer's turn to put his cards on the table. After a long silence he heard Rimmer's voice speaking almost too quietly to hear.

"I went down to the science lab to look at the dream recorder, because I wanted to erase one of my dreams from it. It happened a few days ago. I dreamt that we were playing cards with the Cat and Kryten until late and then when they left we got ready for bed. I put on my pyjamas and then I got into bed … with you. Just like that, you know. As if it had always been like it. Nothing much happened. You just put your arms around me, kissed me and then we fell asleep. As if we had been doing this for years. Just like that. And I went down to the dream recorder to get rid of the clip. But when I typed in the words Rimmer and Lister and kiss two dreams showed up on the list. So, I just pressed Play. That was all really."

Lister looked down at the floor and then at Rimmer. His friend was still staring at the screen mesmerised. Lister leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek. Then he took Rimmer's bag, which was standing on the floor between them and made his way back to their quarters. Rimmer followed a few minutes later, still with a rather shocked expression on his face. Lister walked over to him and took his face in his hands leaning in for a kiss. It took Rimmer a moment to respond, but then he let himself fall for probably the first time in decades. He dropped all of his defensive shields and took Dave in his arms. Their kiss grew stronger with every passing moment and they both new that this wasn't just a dream but the real thing. Lister's hands found their way into Rimmer's hair stroking his curls, running his fingers along his neckline down the back and then slipping them under his shirt. Meanwhile his other hand was trying to unzip his own overalls, but failed. He could feel Rimmer's fingers on his pushing them aside and then opening the zip for him. Lister shrugged his upper body out of the overall and then remembered he had not only slept in his shirt and underpants last night, but also the night before and hadn't showered for two days. Normally this didn't bother him much, but right now he was painfully aware of how he must smell. Suddenly he felt sticky and not very attractive. And although he wasn't sure whether a large nose also indicated a keen sense of smell, he had to giggle at the thought of Rimmer undoing his overall and feeling as if he'd opened a can of spam.

Rimmer started at the sound of Lister giggling. He looked shocked, as if all of this had been a rather bad joke Lister had been playing on him. Suddenly all of his neuroses were back. He had been had.

"This was all a joke wasn't it? Some kind of elaborate prank to make fun of me?" Rimmer pushed away from Lister with a disgusted look on his face.

"No, no," Lister now looked shocked as well. "I just realised that I haven't had a shower for two days and I must be smelling like a tin of dog food. And with your nose I'm surprised you haven't already passed out."

They looked at each other for a moment and then started laughing. Hugging each other again Rimmer whispered into his friend's ear.

"I don't care about your smell. Or I would have moved out years ago."

Looking into each other's eyes they felt that maybe they should have realised much earlier what they really meant to each other.


End file.
